Group comparisons of sleep, exercise and anthropometrics parameters at baseline and change at 9 months
| Control | Exercise | Between-group difference | p-value | |||
| Baseline | Change at 9 months | Baseline | Change at 9 months | |||
| Subjects n | 45 | 43 | ||||
| Sleep parameters | ||||||
| AHI events·h−1 | 20.7±6.1 | 1.2±8.0 | 23.1±8.0 | −4.1±9.7** | −5.3±8.8 | 0.007 |
| Obstructive events·h−1 | 5.8±4.2 | 1.4±5.5 | 7.8±6.4 | −1.4±6.4* | −2.8±5.9 | 0.016 |
| Central events·h−1 | 1.1±1.9 | 0.1±1.9 | 1.2±2.4 | 0.2±1.9 | 0.1±1.9 | 0.990 |
| Hypopnoea events·h−1 | 13.9±5.3 | −0.3±5.5 | 13.9±4.3 | −2.7±6.3** | −2.4±5.9 | 0.064 |
| Supine time % TST | 33.8±26.4 | −3.2±24.2 | 37.2±25.9 | −8.2±26.1 | −5.0±25.1 | 0.389 |
| ODI events·h−1 | 21.6±7.3 | 0.8±8.2 | 22.7±8.4 | −2.2±9.1* | −3.0±8.6 | 0.116 |
| Mean SpO2 % | 92.4±1.7 | −0.6±1.2** | 92.1±1.3 | −0.3±1.2 | 0.3±1.2 | 0.342 |
| Percentage of time SpO2 <90% | 11.6±17.5 | 4.5±18.4** | 10.5±11.4 | 1.0±14.5 | −3.5±16.5 | 0.036 |
| ESS score | 7.4±4.3 | 0.1±3.2 | 8.4±4.4 | −1.8±4.1** | −1.7±3.6 | 0.042 |
| PSQI score | 7.0±3.3 | 0.8±2.4* | 7.4±3.7 | −0.6±2.8 | −1.4±2.6 | 0.015 |
| Exercise and anthropometric parameters | ||||||
| Peak VO2 mL·min−1·kg−1 | 22.8±5.7 | 0.3±2.4 | 23.6±6.0 | 2.3±3.1*** | 2.0±2.7 | 0.001 |
| VO2 at VT mL·min−1·kg−1 | 17.4±4.1 | −0.4±3.6 | 18.2±5.0 | 1.8±4.2** | 2.4±3.9 | 0.001 |
| O2 pulse mL·bpm−1 | 12.7±3.1 | 0.5±1.5 | 13.4±3.3 | 1.4±1.7*** | 0.9±1.6 | 0.031 |
| Sedentary min·day−1 | 489±168 | −2±158 | 497±220 | −11±131 | −9±145 | 0.758 |
| LPA min·day−1 | 261±118 | −4±123 | 238±109 | −3±64 | 1±94 | 0.667 |
| MVPA MET-min·week−1 | 2898±2087 | 79±1109 | 3295±2326 | 795±1841*** | 716±1467 | 0.002 |
| DEE kJ·24 h−1 | 11 556±1699 | −25±846 | 11 676±2008 | 273±963** | 298±903 | 0.047 |
| Body mass index kg·m−2 | 28.3±4.3 | 0.1±0.9 | 28.5±4.1 | −0.1±0.9 | 0.2±0.9 | 0.422 |
| Waist circumference cm | 97.9±12.0 | 1.4±3.1** | 100.7±12.6 | 0.1±2.9 | −1.3±3.0 | 0.060 |
| Waist-to-hip ratio | 0.94±0.08 | 0±0.05 | 0.97±0.08 | −0.02±0.03** | −0.02±0.04 | 0.067 |
| Neck circumference cm | 37.7±3.6 | 0.8±1.1*** | 38.8±3.3 | 0.3±1.2 | −0.5±1.1 | 0.028 |
Data are presented as mean±sd, unless otherwise stated. AHI: apnoea–hypopnoea index; TST: total sleep time; ODI: oxygen desaturation index; SpO2: pulse oxygen saturation; ESS: Epworth Sleepiness Scale; PSQI: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; VO2: oxygen consumption; VT: ventilatory threshold; LPA: light physical activity; MVPA: moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; MET: metabolic equivalent of task; DEE: daily energy expenditure. Significant changes from baseline values to 9 months within groups: *: p<0.05; **: p<0.01; ***: p<0.001 using paired t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test as appropriate. Differences in changes from baseline between groups were calculated using t-test or Mann–Whitney U-test as appropriate. Significant between-group differences are highlighted in bold.